The Koyna-Warna region

Published on 05 Mar 2025

• The Borehole Geophysics Research Laboratory (BGRL) in Maharashtra, a specialised institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences is mandated to execute India’s sole scientific deep-drilling programme in Koyna.

• The region hosts the Koyna dam, a major concrete gravity dam with a height of 103 m built on the Koyna river.

• The reservoir of the dam forms the Shivsagar Lake, a huge lake of 50 km length.

• The region is one of the best worldwide examples of reservoir-induced seismicity.

• It has the distinction of having generated the largest known induced earthquake (M6.3 in 1967) and persistent moderate-magnitude (>M5) events for nearly 50 years.

• The Koyna River is a tributary of the Krishna River which originates in Mahabaleshwar.

Keywords:

The Koyna-Warna region disaster earthquake reservoir-induced seismicity dam dam safety